This Vegetable Biryani with Paneer is a complete meal with grains, veggies, and protein. It begins with a base of caramelized onions, then builds layers of flavors with aromatic long-grain basmati rice and a combination of vegetables cooked to tender perfection. Each bite is infused with delicately balanced whole spices and a bold finish with garam masala.
The recipe was originally posted in May 2017 and has been updated with new photos and video
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I have been trying to perfect my veg biryani in the Instant Pot for months now. After the success of my easy InstaPot Chicken Biryani recipe in just a few tries, I was surprised to see how different it was to cook vegetable Biryani in the pressure cooker. The key to making perfect Instant Pot Veggie Biryani is to choose the right kind of vegetables and to cut them right so they all cook within 5 to 6 mins of pressure cooking time without getting mushy.
Inspiration and Technique
This simple Biryani recipe is inspired by my mom's famous vegetable pulao recipe. She cuts her veggies in a certain size and shape, which I thought was to make the dish look gorgeous. But now I understand that it also helps them cook perfectly each time.
The same trick of cutting the veggies and choosing the right ones helped me with this easy vegetable biryani recipe. Then my talented cousin gave me the idea of adding Paneer to this dish which really took the Biryani to a whole new level.
Ingredients
To make the best and most authentic tasting biryani, use homemade ghee, choose the right vegetables or organic frozen mixed vegetables, and long grain basmati rice. The whole spices and the homemade garam masala will do their magic to add beautiful aromas and bring this delectable recipe together.
Tips for perfect Biryani
- Use fresh garam masala
- Deglaze the pot using the liquids from the vegetables to remove any browned bits from the sautéing of the onions. This will help the Instant Pot come to pressure and also prevent the “BURN” signal. If you have an air fryer you can use it or perfect golden fried onions.
- Make sure all of the rice is under the liquids before closing the Instant Pot
- Although, Sauté (more) function on the Instant Pot works great for true one-pot cooking, you can also caramelize the onions using a stovetop in a non-stick pan. This will speed up the process and also will prevent the stainless steel insert from getting scorched which may lead to a “BURN” notice on the newer Instant Pot’s
Update to my original recipe
Certain brands of store-bought paneer can get chewy when cooked under high pressure. So I have modified the cook times for this recipe to 5 minutes on low pressure. Note: If your Instant Pot does not have the HI/LO pressure cook options, you can cook the biryani on high pressure and then gently stir in the paneer at the end.
Step by step instructions
Step 1 - Rinse and soak the rice in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes. Drain water after 20 mins. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté (more) mode and heat 1 tablespoon of ghee. Add thinly sliced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are lightly caramelized. Take half of the onions out and reserve them for garnish (photos 1 - 2).
Step 2 - Add remaining ghee, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and bay leaves. Cook for 30 seconds. Add all the veggies (carrots, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, corn, paneer). Press cancel and deglaze the pot removing any browning. Use 1-2 tablespoons of water if needed. See the third picture below that shows how the bottom of the pot looks after properly deglazing. There should not be any browned bits stuck to the bottom (photos 3 - 4)
Step 3 - Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, and half of the salt. mix well. Add mint, rice, and remaining salt. Add water. Mix well, making sure most of the rice is underwater (photos 5 - 8)
Step 4 - Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook(LO) and adjust the cooking time to 5 minutes. Follow with a quick release to stop overcooking the rice. Open the Instant Pot. Garnish with caramelized onions and cilantro.
How to serve vegetable biryani
Enjoy hot with yogurt or raita and a squeeze of fresh lemon. This spicy vegetable biryani goes well with refreshing watermelon juice, homemade lemonade, or mango lassi.
Loved the warm flavors of Biryani? Check out these Instant Pot Biryani recipes:
- Chicken Biryani
- Shrimp Biryani
- Chickpea Biryani with vegan options
- Healthy Brown Rice Biryani
- Low Carb Riced Cauliflower Chicken Biryani
- Fish Biryani
- Egg Biryani
Thank you to all who have tried this recipe. It has become so popular that when I published The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, I was requested that I also include this recipe in the cookbook. I hope you will enjoy 75+ modern recipes with authentic Indian flavors in my best-selling book.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, can be doubled in 6-QT or 8-QT Instant Pots
Store-bought paneer can become chewy after pressure cooking. Here are a few options: 1. Adjust pressure cook time to 5 minutes on low-pressure mode. 2. Sauté the paneer in a non-stick pan and add it to the Biryani in the end 3. Use homemade Paneer.
Press cancel before adding all the veggies. This will stop the pot from further overheating as you remove the browning from the bottom of the pot. Then add the veggies and deglaze the pot using the water contents from the veggies so that all the browning from sautéing the onions is removed. You can also use 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to remove the browning.
Yes. Follow the same recipe. No need to soak the quinoa. Just rinse thoroughly and drain all the water before adding it to the pot.
Yes. Substitute ghee with oil. Skip Paneer or stir in sautéed tofu in the end.
Do you love Indian food? Here are my top Instant Pot Indian Recipes to try:
- Easy Chicken Tikka Masala - Creamy tomato-based curry with chicken marinated in yogurt, red chili powder, turmeric, and garam masala
- Healthy "Butter" Chicken - Flavorful chicken in a creamy sauce with an orangish hue from the red chili powder and turmeric
- Spicy Misal Pav - A popular Indian dish made with spicy sprouted bean curry served with lightly buttered dinner rolls
- Tandoori Salmon - Tender, flaky salmon cooked in warm tandoori spices
- Easy Shrimp Curry - Tender-sweet shrimp lightly spiced with aromatic whole spices and tropical flavors from coconut milk
- Chicken Korma - A mild and healthy chicken curry cooked in whole spices and then braised in a yogurt-based sauce
- Kheema Pulao - A flavor-packed one-pot meal with fragrant long grain basmati rice cooked in ground chicken and aromatic-warm whole spices
- Madras Lentils/Daal Makhani - A creamy lentil dish cooked with whole black lentils and kidney beans, lightly spiced
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Recipe
Vegetable and Paneer Biryani - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups Extra long grain Basmati rice
- 2 cups water for soaking
- 3 tablespoons ghee divided
- 1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 whole green cardamoms
- 4 cloves
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup carrots chopped lengthwise into 1-inch x ¼ inch strips
- 1 cup green beans chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup white mushrooms halved
- ½ cup red pepper chopped into 1-inch x ½ inch strips
- ½ cup corn
- 1 cup paneer cubed into ½ inch cubes
- ½ tablespoon ginger grated
- ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt divided
- 2 cups water for cooking
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint chopped
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Rinse and soak the rice in water for 20 minutes. Drain water after 20 minutes.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute(More) mode and heat half of the ghee. Add sliced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are lightly caramelized. Take half of the onions out and reserve for garnish.
- Add remaining ghee, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, black peppers, and bay leaves. Cook for 30 seconds. Add all the veggies (carrots, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, corn, paneer). Press cancel and deglaze the pot removing any browning. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if needed.
- Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, and half of the salt. mix well. Add mint, rice, and remaining salt. Add water. Mix well, making sure most of the rice is underwater.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook(low-pressure) for 5 minutes followed by Quick release. Open the Instant Pot. Garnish with caramelized onions and cilantro. Serve hot with Raita or yogurt.
Video
Notes
- Have an air fryer? Use it or perfect golden fried onions instead of caramelizing the onions in the Instant Pot.
- Deglaze the pot using the liquids from the vegetables to remove any browned bits from the sautéing of the onions. This will help the Instant Pot come to pressure and also prevent the “BURN” signal.
- You can make this recipe Vegan by using coconut oil instead of ghee and extra firm tofu instead of paneer
- I have modified the cooking time for this recipe to 5 minutes LO pressure cook as sometimes store-bought paneer can get chewy when cooked under high pressure. If your Instant Pot does not have HI/LO pressure cook options, you can cook for 6 minutes under high pressure and then stir in the paneer in the end.
Nutrition
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Hans Susser says
Dear Archana,
All of your recipes are tasty and beautiful 🙂
Cheers !
Archana says
Thank you Hans!
Neetha says
This looks so delicious Archana!!
Archana says
Thank you Neetha!
annika says
Yum! Amazing recipe! You never disappoint!
Archana says
Thank you Annika!
Sharan says
Hi Archana, thanks for the recipe. I just had a quick question. When I use the IP in sauté mode especially when frying onions, garlic etc, after few minutes there's a lot of heat and smoke that I can barely see what's cooking. I saw in the video that it's not so for you. Is it because you keep stirring or you switch off in between? Is there a fault in my IP ? It's only been a month since I got it.
Archana says
Hi Sharan, I do also have a lot of smoke coming out and I do keep stirring. You can try to change the sauté mode to normal which does not heat up as much but will take longer time to saute.
Kalbap says
Archana, This vegetable biryani recipe is good and makes for a delicious entree. I paired it with spinach dal and raita making for a complete nutritious meal with the rice pudding as dessert.
I am always looking for short cuts and I used frozen vegetables for the biryani-beans, broccoli, green-red pepper medley, spiraled carrots, corn and lima beans.
Browsing through your blog does take away from the stress of planning for meals.
Archana says
So happy that you enjoyed the vegetable biryani. I agree that adding frozen vegetables is an excellent time saving idea. And the Biryani goes so well with some cooling raita. Did you make the spinach daal in instant pot also? You are a PRO at Instant Pot cooking. Thank you for all your kind words and encouragement.
Kalbap says
I am following your instapot recipes!
I made the spinach dal in the instapot but varied the method a bit by 1st cooking the dal in the instapot using it like a pressure cooker and then adding it to sauteed spinach-tomato. So like a 2 step process. Because my husband thinks if we cook dal in the 1 step/1 utensil process the dal loses texture completely and becomes powdery/mushy.
Archana says
Thank you Kalyani! If you do not like the daal too mushy you can try to reduce the cook time? So if it is toor daal cook it for only 4 mins and do not mash it after? Although of the 2-step process works for you then may be stick with that!
Shivani says
This was absolutely delectable!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Archana says
Thank you Shivani! So glad you tried and enjoyed this recipe.
Preeti Mehta says
Made this yesterdayand it was great. Could you easily double all the quantities, keeping pressure times the same?
Archana says
Hi Preeti! So glad you enjoyed this Biryani. You can double the quantities and the pressure time will still be the same!
Ratna says
Did the paneer turn chewy and firm after cooking? I usually have that issue if I cook paneer in IP.
Archana says
Hi Ratna, I used homemade paneer and it does not turn chewy.
Yvette says
I made this in my brand new IP last night, never used one before. Clear instructions, perfect results, and absolutely delicious. Thank you
Archana says
Hi Yvette! I am SO happy to hear that this was one your first IP recipe. I have a bunch of other recipes for IP that you may want to try. Thank you for letting me know. It makes me SO happy to see such comments. Thank you and Happy IP cooking. If you have any questions along the way, please let me know.
Twinkle says
Hi Archana, I want to make this recipe just for 2-3 ppl so if I halve it will the cooking time remain the same?
Archana says
Hi Twinkle! Yes same cooking time. ? let me know how you like it!
Twinkle says
It came out so perfect and delicious, I followed recipe exactly except added a bit more water. Every grain of rice was separate and cooked properly, I used store bought paneer and it wasn't chewy at all. Loved the recipe, sure shot keeper!!!
Archana says
Hi Tiwnkle! Awesome!! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Check out my Masoor Khichdi recipe too. It makes an easy and delish weeknight dinner 🙂 Thank you for the detailed feedback, makes me SO happy!
InspiresN says
The pictures look awesome ,love how the grains of rice look so well separated!
Archana says
Thank you!
Protima says
Could I replace water with coconut milk? Would I need the same quantity or do I need to increase the quantity of liquid when using coconut milk? Thanks
Archana says
Hi Protima, I would do half water and half coconut milk. It will not cook well with just coconut milk. Let me know how it works for you. Thanks.
S says
I want to make 1 cup rice (instead of 2 cups), since its just me and my husband. How much water should I use - is 1.25 cups okay? When making 1 cup of white rice PIP in the IP, I usually do 1.25 cups of water. This looks delicious!
Archana says
For 1 cup rice I would put 1 cup water. There is also water that comes from veggies like cauliflower, mushrooms and peppers. Hope you enjoy this! Let me know.
Aswini says
I made this today. It came out really well.
Thanks for this recipe. My 14 months baby loved it too.
So you know if it is a hit with baby it will be made more often.
Thank you!
Archana says
Hi Aswini, Your comment makes me so happy!! I love when children enjoy the foods we make for them. Thank you for taking time for this lovely feedback.
Aswini says
You are welcome!
I made is again today. Left out all spices.
Only veggies and rice.
It was a massive hit again.
??thankyou!
Archana says
Thank you for your comments! I am SO happy you found a recipe you can repeat with variations and enjoy it every time! This Biryani is actually adapted from from mom's Pulav recipe which has very little spices so I can image how yummy yours must have been.
Ruby says
I want to try this! Can I use frozen veggies? I can't seem to find fresh green beans anywhere! Would I have to adjust cooking time if so? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Ruby! Same cooktime will work with frozen veggies too!
Sb says
Do I put the frozen veggies in the ip frozen or semi thawed or cooked
Archana says
Frozen vegetables will work.
Taru says
HI Archana, Love this recipe- its my go to one on busy weeknights with frozen veggies-and my family just gobbles it up... I was wondering if you could make this with Brown rice and if so how would you adapt the water to rice ratio? time to cook? and also how long would you need to soak the rice ahead of time?
Archana says
Hi Taru! I am so happy you are enjoying thus recipe and it is part of your family meals. You can soak brown rice for an hour in warm water and then cook for 15 mins in Instant Pot. Since the brown rice takes longer to cook your veggies will be little overcooked so make sure to use hardy veggies like carrots, potatoes, string beans etc. You can also make this recipe with quinoa and it tastes amazing. Let me know if you have any questions.
Bhairavi Shah says
Hi Archana, I have tried this recipe many times and always loved it. I need to make this for a larger group so I will be doubling the recipe--does this change the IP cooking time? Thanks!!
Archana says
Hi Bhairavi! Yes you can double the recipe. Same pressure cook time just time to saute the onions will be longer.
Murraya says
Thank you so much for this recipe ! I tried it for Thanksgiving potluck and I doubled your recipe, it still was perfect, the absolute loving part is you even gave the correct salt content. The issue I had which is not related to this recipe is I had made lots of it and didn't know how to reheat it for the next day. I didn't want to harden the paneer too much through reheating and it was not very successful heating rtaher than doing in individual serving by the guests themselves. But I have boomarked your recipe for future 🙂
Archana says
Hi Murray! Thank you for your feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I agree reheating paneer can certainly dry it out. Next time you can also just saute paneer and add it to the biryani in the end?
PD says
Can i use frozen veggies? If yes, how many cups? Can i skip paneer?
Archana says
Yes you can use 4 cups of frozen veggies and totally skip paneer. Let me know how it goes!
PD says
Thank you for your prompt response!! I used 4 cups of frozen veggies and skipped paneer and biryani was very flavorful..cooked to perfection! Thank you!!
Archana says
You are welcome!! So glad you enjoyed it!!